Why Are Martial Arts Instructors Fat?

This was the question I was considering whilst sitting in my gyms cafe after my workout watching the various comings and goings. I tend to live a life of routine and after lifting on Sunday I head downstairs to cafe and have a cup of tea, toast, vegemite and a fresh orange juice. During this time I stare out the window and contemplate various aspects of life. Whilst I was partaking of this ritual yesterday I noticed that the auditorium attached to the gym was holding a karate tournament. Yet another organisation I had never heard of was holding a get together where they pretend to hit one another and are awarded points for the best pretending. I have no idea why they call them martial arts when they dont actually hit someone or have someone trying to hit them.

As I watched the various comings and goings I noticed an interesting thing, most of the instructors and officials were fat and quite surprisingly a good number were ducking outside for a cigarette at what seemed to be any break in proceedings. This did surprise me since the recollection of my instructors were that some were colossal pricks but they were always slim pricks.

Contemplating this made me consider the notion of personal narrative and the integrity that this narrative has for each individual. The word that keep coming into my mind was congruence which in my mind simply means harmony or balance. Your internal and external narrative are in balance – there is no tension between the two. Being a fat martial arts instructor means you have no harmony since the internal narrative and external expression of that narrative are at loggerheads with one another. It is obvious that this need for internal and external harmony didnt occur to many of those I observed yesterday despite harmony or balance being one of the cornerstone philosophies of all styles of karate.

I have always found it hard to understand how people can expect success when the narrative they follow is not expressed in day to day life, surely sooner or later the subconscious rebels against this tension and sets its own course. This may explain why so many people who lack this balance run into problems in aspects of their lives. My example of this in trading is traders who have poorly defined reasons for wanting to trade. As an example I had a conversation many years ago with a trader and during the conversation I asked them their motivations for trading. Their answer was that they wanted to spend more time with their family and working from home would enable that. I then asked how they were going to do this. The answer was by intraday trading FX. You can instantly see that the stated aim is at odds with the vehicle of achieving that aim.

Nothing like an overweight smoker espousing the virtues of being fit and healthy. Couldn’t agree more Chris, sometimes it seems they give points to whoever had the loudest Kiai regardless of whether the kick or punch was a complete miss.

Cool, I laughed my head off. Something I always knew but didn’t see such funny evidence. That’s why I resisted by all means for my kids doing any martial arts in Oz but sent them to a decent boxing school – they do get punched for real there. Will share the links with the kids to let them laugh too.

It never ceases to amaze me how little the degree of personal responsibilty some people take for their health. A woman I know who is morbidly obease & a heavy smoker blames everyone but herself for the state of her health. Because I drive a diesel powered car she insists that my diesel fumes contribute to her coughing fits. Unbelievable !

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